JOE ROSENTHAL (1911-2006) Raising of the Flag at Iwo Jima. Silver print, the image measuring 4 1/8x3 1/8 inches (10.5x7.9 cm.), the sheet slightly larger, with Rosenthal's signature in pencil and the notation "1st Print G.T.," also in pencil, on verso. 1945
This print is claimed by the technician who printed it to be the very first print of this image, made on shipboard in Guam. Following the flag raising, Rosenthal sent his film to Guam to be developed and printed. George Tjaden of Hendricks, Minnesota, was likely the technician who printed it, according to a 2005 interview he gave to journalist Steve Hemmingsen. Upon seeing the photo, Associated Press photography editor John Bodkin exclaimed "Here's one for all time!" and immediately transmitted the image to the AP headquarters in New York City. The photograph was quickly picked up off the wire by hundreds of newspapers, distributed within less than 24 hours after Rosenthal shot it. This example, printed on Guam, was signed by Rosenthal for Laurence Bershad, who served as a radar officer on the U.S.S. New Jersey during World War II, and was later in charge of photography for the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests. Bershad's collection of historic World War II photographs (including another example of this image) is now at the Hoover Institute.
